SEXUAL FUNCTIONING AMONG WOMEN WITH PHYSICAL-DISABILITIES

Objective: Three a priori hypotheses were tested: (1) There are signif icant differences in sociosexual behaviors of women with physical disa bilities compared with women without disabilities; (2) the sexual func tioning of women with disabilities is significantly related to age at onset of disability; (3) psychological factors explain more of the var iance in the sexual functioning of women with physical disabilities th an do disability, social, or environmental factors. Design: Case-compa rison study using written survey. Setting: General community. Particip ants: The questionnaire was mailed to 1,150 women with physical disabi lities who were recruited as volunteers or through independent living centers. Each woman gave a second copy of the questionnaire to an able -bodied female friend, which comprised the comparison group. The respo nse rate was 45%, with 475 cases and 425 comparisons eligible to parti cipate. The most common disability type was spinal cord injury (24%), followed by polio (18%), muscular dystrophy (11%), cerebral palsy (11% ), multiple sclerosis (10%), joint disorders (7%), and skeletal abnorm alities (5%). Interventions: None. Main Outcome Measures: Sexual funct ioning, consisting of four factors: (1) sexual desire, (2) sexual acti vity, (3) sexual response, and (4) sexual satisfaction. Results: Highl y significant differences were found in level of sexual activity (p = .000001), response (p = .000009), and satisfaction (p = .000001) betwe en women with and without disabilities. No significant differences wer e found between groups on sexual desire. Severity of disability was no t significantly related to level of sexual activity. Conclusion: Psych ological and social factors exert a strong impact on the sexual functi oning of women with physical disabilities. Further investigation is ne eded of the effect of social environment on development of self-esteem and sexual self-image, and how these influences affect levels of sexu al functioning in women with physical disabilities. (C) 1996 by the Am erican Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.